Saldanha Bay – In a nod to the national government saying earlier this year that connectivity should be a basic service, fixed network operator Zoom Fibre has stepped up to the challenge of partnering with members of the private sector and local government to deliver fibre as a municipal service. At the launch of the Digital Citizen app in the Saldanha Bay Municipality, Executive Mayor Andre Truter said the dream of a smart city “has been enabled” by the hundreds of kilometres of fibre deployed across the region.
Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Khumbudzo Ntshavheni had said during the State of the Nation Debate in February that “data has become a new utility like water and electricity that our home needs. At some point, a South African household, despite whether they are rich or poor, will be given access to 10GB per month, because that is what the government will deliver.”
That Saldanha Bay Municipality is leading the charge nationally, is testament to the power of authentic public-private partnerships, built on a shared vision, says Zoom Fibre Managing Executive Tanya Lourens. “Our purpose is to enable connectivity and digital inclusion, and working alongside the visionary Saldanha Bay Municipality and private partners – which predates the minister’s comments – to deploy fibre to every household in the municipality is proof that with a shared vision and commitment, anything is possible. In many ways, this project provides a template for other municipalities across the country to follow,” she said after the launch of the Digital Citizen app.
Cornell De Kock, the municipality’s Director for Economic Development and Strategic Services, said that the launch of the app, which was developed in a partnership including Amoeba TSC who were part of the panel of partners at the launch event, was another step along the journey to achieving the dream of a real smart city. The open access network, deployed and owned by Zoom Fibre, unlocks a multitude of possibilities, ultimately connecting the municipality to its citizens.
“During the State of the Nation debate the presidency said fibre should be a municipal service and we, in Saldanha Bay Municipality, are the first nationally to do this. We have a mandate to serve all citizens, no matter where in the municipality. The cornerstone principle is: what are the telecoms infrastructure requirements to be able to deliver services? Citizens are divided until you bridge the digital divide.”
Lourens agrees, adding that the public-private partnership, known as the Baobab Fibre project, requires a fixed network operator to fully invest in a region. “There is no space in these types of projects for hit and run type deployments. We have invested fully in the region, complete with a regional head office.
“Laying communications infrastructure is not always pleasant,” she says, adding that digging up roads and pavements is often seen as an annoyance. “At the launch event, even the municipal manager joked about his annoyance at his pavement being opened, but it is the enablement this brings that makes the effort worth its weight in gold. We believe that once the fibre is live, and the promise has become reality, the importance of this public-private partnership will be especially apparent.”
Truter echoed these sentiments, asking the pertinent question: “How will this project change lives?” He said: “Every great house needs a foundation, and in this case that foundation is the fibre network. This will position us uniquely in South Africa. No other municipality can compete with this at this point. It is an uncomfortable space, but we must push forward and learn.”
